Crossed, Not Alligned
by Everyone's a Mortal
Summary: "Sometimes Rachel woners why not many stories are wtitten about her. But she doesn't really mind. She's okay, being mysterious. And it was in moments like these, with the sun warming her face and breeze blowing around them, that Rachel thought her fate just ... right."


_**Crossed, Not Alligned.**_

_By __**Everyone's a Mortal.**_

_**. **__. __**.**_

_"Sometimes in life sitting back and letting go is something you have to do."_

_**. **__. __**.**_

_"I miss the sound of your voice_

_I miss the way you smile_

_You pull me down hard_

_You drown me."_

_**. **__. __**.**_

They don't speak much anymore.

It's a sad fact but it's true. Rachel Elizabeth Dare's time with Percy Jackson has ended.

Now and then he'll visit her cave. Those are the good days. Then it's almost normal; they talk and they laugh ... but when they get into the dangerous flirting, boy and girl pull away. Rachel is an Oracle; no dating. Of course, flirting isn't dating ... but best to stay out of that zone completely. And Percy Jackson ... he's a taken man.

Rachel respects that, even if, deep inside, her heart still breaks when he smiles at her. Perhaps that's why they don't talk much. Percy can see. And she can see through him.

Rachel can see Percy loves Annabeth, and it's True Love. But she can also see he's still got his schoolboy crush on her, on Rachel. So, for now, they stay away from each other.

Of course, Apollo helps. Or... or he tries to. Really he just makes it worse. The god is dashing, and of course Rachel notices, she's not blind.

But she is scared. She is scared because there was one night when she was dining with Chiron and her prophecy just ... just came out. And it was _her _prophecy. About herself.

_The lonely mortal will fall for two._

_One she will call to,_

_The other will be missed._

_Their fates, they are crossed. But only two are alligned._

_Her life will be bright, immortal, unseen._

_The goddess of Oracles, bride of a king._

At night, Rachel's mind works through each line, straining to decifer it. As Oracle, Rachel often advizes to _not _decifer prophecies. It causes problems. But Rachel is impatient.

The first line seems rather obvious to Rachel. On the days when she isn't busy, Rachel paints. Random scenes; ruins from Olympus, Percy standing tall and mighty, _heroic, _in the middle of many monsters. Grover playing a tune on his pipes. Thalia and her Immortal friends. The famous underwater kiss. But while she painted, Rachel would think about her prophecy. She in a way _has _fallen for two. Percy Jackson, the infuriantingly handsome demigod. And Apollo.

But _why _she fell for them... this was a matter for another time.

_One she will call to, _that confused her. Frankly it barely _rhymed. _But that was besides the point. Rachel doesn't get _who. _She's called for Percy many times in moments of trouble. But not Apollo. He usually comes to her. _The other will be missed _pfft, that was cheesy. Of course she'd miss whoever she is going to lose. Rachel always wants to slap herself for saying such a _romantic _thing.

_Their fates, they are crossed. But only two are alligned_. That's the line that startles her. And she won't go into it because it's too weird. It's too movieverse. And she doesn't want anything to be alligned.

_Her life will be bright, immortal, unseen. _Rachel doesn't want to be immortal. The sheer thought startles her. It sounds like a curse; she'll go on forever. She'll watch her friends die. Even Thalia, eventually. And this ... this makes her cry. Just the thought of it makes her sob. And sometimes she sobs in front of Apollo. He's awkward, putting his arms around her like he's almost scared. If Rachel isn't always crting when he does it, she would've teased him. But Rachel is glad for his comfort in moments like tnose.

_The goddess of Oracles, bride of a king. _Zeus is a king but Rachel knows the prophecy means a dofferent type of king. It means the one that she finds heroic.

Her life goes on and Rachel pushes the prophecy out of her mind.

Apollo slowly stops coming by and Percy doesn't come by at all.

She realizes he's waiting for her, one day. Waiting for her to call _him_, for once, instead of the other way around. Wihout the prophecy in mind, Rachel whispers, her voice full of emotion. _"Apollo?"_

In a matter of minutes before he's standing before her.

_"You rang, m'lady?"_

It's not until he leaves that Rachel remembers. _One she will call to_. But strangely, she doesn't care.

_**. **__. __**.**_

Her father's funeral is today. Two years before had been her mother's. Rachel feels strangely sad, and she finds her vouce shaking when she speaks to the crowd at her dad's Funeral. When she sits down her shoulders shake.

_"My dear, you look in need of a drink." _ His voice is like honey, and she straightens up immediatley.

Turning, Rachel smiles,_"Ap-" _her eyes widen. The man is dressed in a dark blue suit, and his eyes are ocean green. _"Percy?"_

He rolls his eyes, _"no, duh. Annabeth is waiting outside. C'mon. Let's go eat." _

And her heart sinks. Hope crawled inside Rachel just to break her again. Percy is over her. And she ... she is still the Oracle. She needs to _let go _of this hero. And so, Rachel does something she cries over afterwards.

_"I'm sorry, Percy Jackson. I'm afraid I'll have to decline."_

Percy gives her a sad look. _"Guess Annabeth and I have an unplanned date, then."_

He leaves and, no matter how many times she tries, Rachel cannot get Apollo to come and save her.

When she realizes he's probably on a date or screwing somebody, she gives up.

_**. **__. __**.**_

Rachel holds the green shroud while Annabeth burns it, her children watching. Tears are in everyone's eyes. The boy ended up marrying Annabeth. They had four beautiful children. Charles Nicholas Jackson, Sally Bianca Jackson, Luke (on Annabeth's insistance) Jackson, and Rachel Silena Jackson.

And although Rachel was honoured, she wished they were _hers_.

Chiron gives a speech about Percy's life and how good it was but Rachel isn't really listening. There's one part she _does _catch, though.

_"He wil be missed."_

And with a start she realizes Percy Jackson _will _be missed. When Rachel goes to her cave, she calls out to Apollo for the first since her father's funeral, ten years ago.

_"Apollo?"_

_"Hey, sweetheart."_

_**. **__. __**.**_

Not many stories are told about the Oracle Dare. She's not even mentioned much in the Battle of Manhattan. But that's okay. These days, Rachel and Hestia talk a lot. As an immortal girl, she can afford tea time with the goddess. It's been one hundred years since she took Apollo's hand in marriage.

Everyone she ever knew is dead. The ones she sees now and then are Chiron, Tyson, Ella, Mrs O'Leary and Thalia. Apollo is much more disciplined (Artemis says it's because he picked a strong wife), though his cabin has the most kids on the male side. Rachel doesn't mind. She knows he won't be forever faithful, and she has children of her own. One Immortal, two mortal. She is the minor goddess of Oracles, and of artists. She is known as Elizabeth now, though at times Chiron, Hestia, Thalia and Apollo call her Rachel.

Sometimes Rachel wonders what it would be like to die. She'd see her friends. But Rachel is now Immortal. And now she understands. Immortality is a curse.

The prophecy came true. It was strange and unforseen but Rachel knows it was fulfilled.

On the days of her dead loved ones birthdays, Rachel visits the graves.

She leaves white lillies on one very special grave.

_"Do you remember when Blackjack landed on Paul's car? I kissed you. I don't know if you remember. You're dead, Percy. Tyson and I miss you so, so much. I used to dream of breaking my oath for you. But I guess our fates were crossed, not alligned. I miss you. We all do. I don't believe the world will ever see a greater hero."_

Rachel is sobbing when she leaves. It occurs to her she cries a lot. Desperate, she calls out for her husband. He hasn't come by for the past few weeks.

_"Apollo?"_

_"Right here, sweetheart. Right here." _He hugs her and he smells like chocolate.

She cries into him. _"I love you."_

_"I love you more, Liz."_

And they walk back to Olympus together. It was in the moments like these, that Rachel doesn't wonder why not many stories were written about her. Being mysterious is fine with her. It is in moments like these, that being immortal isn't so bad, and being just her and Apollo isn't horrible either.

It was in momentss like these, with the wind blowing around them and the sun warming her face, that Rachel thought her Fate just _right._

_**. **__. __**.**_

_Yeah. Sorry if this seemed weird to you. It was stuck in my head. I hope y'all enjoyed it. I know Aprachel (or Rapollo) is a weird ship. But it was neccessary for the fic. Besides, look at the past Oracles: they were all pretty. Apollo's a little bit of a player. They must've been pretty for a reason. Let me dream, okay? Also! Perachel was neccessary. Rachel was still brokenhearted on leaving Percy and, let's face it, Percy still has feeling for Rachel. And Calypso._

_Anyway, this is mostly centered around Rachel's life. No one really has her speak much after she becomes Oracle. I hope you enjoyed it. It was fun to write :)_

_Yours in bookishness and all that good stuff._

_~Jay._


End file.
